The Acostas Box Set: The Shameless Life of Ruiz Acosta / The Argentinian's Solace / A Taste of the Untamed / The Man From her Wayward Past / Taming the Last Acosta / Christmas Nights with the Polo Pla

* * *

Being singled out by Holly meant more to him than she could ever know. He was so used to being one of the Band of Brothers: Ruiz, the youngest, the fixer, the travelling glue pot for the family. The man who made things right again. He was so busy sorting things out he had never stayed anywhere long enough to form a lasting attachment, let alone with someone as precious to him as Holly. And now he wanted to do something special for her. She had to know how much he cared about her, how much he loved her. It was almost Christmas, and Christmas Day was also her birthday. Gifts for his brothers were easy—anything for their horses. Lucia was almost as easy. He could take his sister on a virtual shopping trip and let her choose anything she liked, but he didn’t want to do that with Holly. He wanted to choose something that had meaning for her. He wanted to spoil her because she had never been spoiled, and surprise her because he loved to see her laugh.

* * *

She had bought Christmas presents for the Acosta family, knowing she would be staying over the holidays with them, but she couldn’t find the perfect gift for Ruiz, the man who had everything—or who could buy it in the unlikely event he found a gap.

She had an idea. She’d have to work on it, and she’d have to work fast, Holly concluded, pressing Send on her latest ‘Living with a Playboy’ feature, along with a second message marked ‘URGENT’. The main article for ROCK! was still work in progress, and something told her that unless she wrote a couple of alternative endings she would have to wait until after Christmas to complete the final draft of that.

‘Are you ready for your riding lesson?’

She turned as Ruiz entered the room. ‘As I’ll ever be!’

‘Not chickening out, I hope?’ he said, smacking a whip against the side of his sexy, calf-moulding riding boots.

‘You wish,’ she said.

‘No, I’ll leave that to the pony,’ Ruiz said, laughing. ‘Come on.’ Throwing an arm around her shoulders, he led her out of the room.

Ruiz put her up on a young, dark bay gelding called Dulce. ‘Can I have hand rails?’ Holly asked nervously, feeling she should have a safety harness at the very least.

‘Hang onto me,’ Ruiz suggested, springing onto the back of a waiting stallion. ‘Dulce is very light on the mouth, but he’ll be kind to you. Squeeze your knees together and he’ll go forward.’

‘Not sure I can squeeze my knees together …’

Ruiz laughed. ‘Then do the best you can.’

‘Well, I blame you if I can’t get them to move together.’ But, experimenting, she discovered her knees still worked. She found the small horse remarkably biddable too, and with Ruiz at her side, patiently advising her, she also discovered confidence flooding in. ‘I like it,’ she exclaimed with surprise, urging the kind pony to pick up his stride.

‘Do you like him?’ Ruiz asked when she had successfully completed a couple of circuits of the ring.

‘I love him,’ Holly admitted, stroking the pricked, velvety ears as she rested her cheek against Dulce’s firm, warm neck.

‘He’s yours.’

‘What?’ She sat up. ‘You can’t do that.’

‘Who said I can’t? Happy Christmas, Holly.’

‘But when will I be able to ride him?’

‘Whenever you come to Argentina with me.’

‘Are you serious? Who will ride him in the meantime?’

‘The grooms will ride him. What will it take to convince you?’ Ruiz demanded, riding alongside. ‘Shall I call my brothers over and ask them to convince you that I never joke where horses are concerned?’

‘Don’t do that,’ she said, flashing a glance at the posse of impossibly tough-looking bad boys busy training fresh young ponies in the next paddock. ‘I’ve got more than enough trouble on my hands as it is. So,’ she said, narrowing her eyes as she stared at Ruiz. ‘If you never joke about horses, how about women?’

‘There are no women.’ Ruiz gave her a long, intense stare. ‘There’s only you.’

‘Good, because I tweeted our news resulting in a mega uplift in hits to the site.’

‘Oh, I’m delighted,’ Ruiz said dryly.

‘A love story contained in one hundred and forty characters isn’t bad editing.’

‘Not bad at all,’ Ruiz agreed. ‘You should think about taking up writing as a career …’ He dodged out of the way as she aimed a swipe at him.

‘So if we’re going to be together do you think I should kill the column?’ she said.

‘Of course not,’ Ruiz argued.

‘You don’t think the readers will grow bored now they know the outcome?’ Holly said, frowning.

‘I’m disappointed in you, Holly. What has happened to that imagination of yours? There should be at least three spin-offs from this piece of news.’

Would that be the engagement, the wedding, followed swiftly by the first baby? Holly wondered.

Ruiz swiftly disillusioned her. ‘Cleaning his tack, ironing his shirts, and cooking the playboy’s meals should do it.’

‘You mentioned dancing?’ she said as he helped her to dismount.

‘Yes. We’re having a party at the estancia this evening.’

Holly hummed. ‘I’d watch your toes if I were you.’

* * *

The Christmas Eve celebration was being held in the main courtyard and, dressed in jeans with her hair piled up high, Holly had pitched in with the staff to help them dress the walls and balustrades with garlands of flowers to augment the colourful blossom in the garden. The cobbled area was lit by candlelight and torches held in high brackets on the walls, and there was a full moon that cast a spotlight on the glittering fountains. The band was already playing sexy South American music and there were professional dancers on hand to demonstrate the various styles of dance to the guests, as well as enough food and wine to feed an army. The banquet had been set out on trestle tables dressed with crisp white linen, boasting silver cutlery and twinkling crystal. Holly was just about to go and get changed when the biggest surprise of the night waylaid her. Lucia had arrived under cover of darkness to surprise her brothers. The two girls had been in touch by e-mail in order to spring a few more surprises before the night was out.

‘It’s just like the old days at school,’ Lucia commented, handing over Holly’s Christmas present. ‘All this subterfuge, with the added amazingness of you and my brother falling in love—’ Lucia broke off to give Holly the biggest hug ever. ‘Come on, sister-to-be, let’s go and get changed. You can hardly arrive at the party wearing jeans.’

The outfit Lucia had chosen for Holly was spectacular. The slinky dress in vivid red had a low vee neck and the highest of high hemlines. Lucia had also chosen a pair of silver sandals with stratospheric heels to wear with it.

‘You look fabulous,’ Lucia exclaimed when they had sneaked into Holly’s bedroom and locked the door securely behind them. ‘Now get those sandals on,’ she prompted. ‘If Ruiz loved you before, his tongue will be sweeping the floor when he sees you wearing this …’

‘I’d rather Ruiz kept his tongue in his mouth,’ Holly remarked dryly, turning her head to examine her back view in the full-length mirror.

‘The answer is no,’ Lucia assured her. ‘It doesn’t look big. It looks perfect. You look perfect.’

‘And you shouldn’t be spending so much money on me.’

‘And you weren’t supposed to pay me any rent,’ Lucia countered. ‘I couldn’t believe it when I saw the amount you put into my bank account.’

‘The column is going well.’

‘That doesn’t matter. Whoever gave you my bank details is so dead!’